I understand they can't be warriors or part of the particular sisterhoods, but are there ever males in the organization at all? Do they only work with female members of the adeptus? Female Mechanicus only?

Certainly on a mission they could get supplies from male members of adeptus but I haven't seen anywhere that there are males in their own organization like at all. Are they just chem geld servants or something?

I'm hoping for Lynata's input as he/she knows quite a bit about that organization.

Mechanicus attachments to Ecclesiarchy assets including the Sororitas are categorically not members of the organization so it doesn't really make sense for there to be any limitations on the physical properties of the techpriests responsible for the maintenance of their equipment (not to mention that concepts of "male" and "female" become rapidly irrelevant as one ascends the hierarchy of Techpriests)- it's not like there's much love to be lost between Techpriests and Sororitas anyway given the fundamentally different religious doctrines to which they adhere.

I would assume Sororitas logistics would be handled by the Deacons and Archdeacons of the Ecclesiarchy of which they are formally a component, just as with the rest of the Ministorum. Ecclesiarchy personnel who deal with matters of supply and finance, Mechanicus attachments, etc. aren't Sororitas and aren't part of the organization- that's relegated to the actual Sisters of the Hospitaller, Diaologos, Famulous, and Militant. It's not like they have any prohibition on associating with men in the most general sense- the Schola Progenium from which most are drawn and where they begin their training can be run by male drill-abotts and feature plenty of male classmates, and Sororitas themselves often associate with or fall under the authority of/are assigned to Confessors, Pontifexes, or Cardinals, not to mention Inquisitors without regard for their gender. The composition of the Sororitas is a specific artifact of their origin as a female monastic/ascetic order reinforced by technicalities in the wording of the Decree Passive that prohibit the Ecclesiarchy from fielding standing armies of men (although this is quite irrelevant as far as the Famulous/Hospitaller/Dialogos go).

Thanks for the vote of confidence, by the way!

I would assume Sororitas logistics would be handled by the Deacons and Archdeacons of the Ecclesiarchy of which they are formally a component, just as with the rest of the Ministorum.

I think so, too - though I believe in a very simplified approach where supplies just get dropped off in front of the gate, and then carried inside by a bunch of novices and/or servitors. With a bit of time it'd probably not too hard how medieval monastic communities functioned in this way, or continue to do so to this very day. I'd actually suspect that nuns and monks do stuff like accounting themselves.

In this context, also see the "maintenance of their own affairs" bit in the first quote above.

the Schola Progenium from which most are drawn and where they begin their training can be run by male drill-abotts and feature plenty of male classmates

This is a good example for the conflicts between Black Library novels and Codex fluff, actually:

"The lifestyle of the teachers and pupils is strict and puritan. During the Age of Apostasy, most of the Schola Progenium was corrupted and rife with slavery and depravity. Orphans were used as slave labour in factories and mines making goods for the Ecclesiarchy. Particularly promising individuals were sold to Imperial commanders as slaves and servants, and the most attractive became concubines for Imperial nobles. The most physically adept were sent to be trained as Frateris Templars or Brides of the Emperor, swelling Vandire's armies with the best recruits. The habitats themselves became associated with licentious practices, and their money was put to questionable ends. In direct contrast, each habitat now maintains a strict separation between the two genders, and contact between them is restricted purely to religious ceremonies. Only with this purity can the Progena hope to be elevated to a position within the Emperor's domain."

- 2E C:SoB

I think it was the Cain novel as well that stated it's not that sisters are abstinate or that they don't date, they're just entirely too busy. Which at least gives a human side to the idea of the sisters, but takes away from the monastic life idea.

Which makes me think that if a romance does bud between two sisters (let's be honest here it probably happens occasionally) one might take an oath of repentence. Not to shame the relationship or anything, but to try and maintain their individual focuses on their work and their faith.

Which is largely why I would understand that after the Age of Apostasy the sisters would be hellbent on maintaining an image of purity and focused idealism involving their faith in the Emperor over any other pursuit.

I enjoy Cain because he actively states he's a coward. He's only a good commissar because he does quite a lot of stupid things that his men do as well. I can't think of Cain and say Gaunt getting along. Gaunt's too serious, and Cain would pee himself if he was up against Gaunt's odds.

Cain novels manage to make me laugh, they're inquisitorial records of a man whose idiocy was turned into propoganda. Which is such a 40k thing to do. This guys an idiot and only manages to survive because of fate points, well get rid of the idiot parts and make him a hero. He's not smart enough to be a hero on his own, he needs inquisitorial blacklisting. It's perfect because he'll never use his pull to become a threat.

I fully expect though for his death to have actually been an assassination because they finally got fed up with him.

I agree with the possibly exploitative sense of writing, he's sort of like Bruce Campbell if he were in 40k. Bad things happen around him, he survives by running the other way, and women just sort of fall in love with him for odd reasons.

Haven't gotten around to reading the Cain Sororitas novel, but if I remember wasn't that sister retired from active duty?

It's a matter of preferences - to me, Cain sort of "breaks too much" with the stereotype of the Commissar. Someone like him just would've never become one in the first place.

I think it's because Mitchell disagrees with GW's notion of the Schola Progenium not only training military troops but also civilian adepts, and instead opted for a pure boot camp in his novels. In GW's version of the setting, Cain would have probably become a scribe for the Administratum, as only "martially minded" progena are even considered for graduation into the armed services, and you have to be especially zealous to get recruited as a Cadet Commissar. Not where I'd expect a coward to end up, especially when he wants to avoid being put in danger.

The novels, however, seem entirely focused on the militaristic aspect, as if the Schola exclusively produces either Commissars, Storm Troopers or Sisters, so when Cain was thrown in there I suppose he just attempted to walk the path of least resistance, coupled with a silly amount of coincidence and clever tricks. Like you said, Bruce Campbell.

Haven't gotten around to reading the Cain Sororitas novel, but if I remember wasn't that sister retired from active duty?

As far as I remember, yes - which is another odd thing. It's not like the Sisterhood would not have its own uses for elder members, as explained in the 2nd edition Codex.

Perhaps it wasn't her choice to retire, and they had no use for a Sister that exemplified all the wrong things they were going for.

It's an interesting thought, but then how does this Sister end up training the next generation of impressionable young Sororitas novices? I mean, isn't this the last place you'd want her to be?

Novices and Commissars training in the Schola is another difference from the source material, by the way. Also, I'd expect the only way to "leave" the Sisterhood to be by martyrdom.

"Should any Sister, in her deeds, words or thoughts, in peace or at war in any way commit a sin, she should willingly and immediately make her fault known to her Superior, to make amends with a pure heart. And if she does not usually fail in this manner, let her be given but a week's penance, but if her sin is great let her go apart from the company of her Sisters, so that she may not sit at table with them, nor kneel in prayer, nor fight the Emperor's foes at their side. Let her go all but alone, submitting herself to the will of the almighty God-Emperor of Mankind. Let her don the penitent hood and take up the ceremonial eviscerator, and seek her redemption upon the field of battle."

-- WD #292 : The Liber Sororitas

True. Perhaps she grew to that level from being stuck there for a time, a crisis of faith that she failed.

I believe that the Cain novels are basically supposed to be Flashman imported into 40k. While I dislike the lack of actual hard and grim Commissars in most of the 40k literature (well, back when I still read the novels), I do think Cain being a commissar is not quite so implausible as you believe- it's not like he would openly admit to the Drill Abbotts his personal 'cowardice' (and indeed given the nature of the Progenia doing so would certainly be a fast track to corporal punishment, one would suspect). If he faked resolve well enough (although he also consistently exaggerates his own shortcomings) and his physical fitness, martial ability, capacity for leadership, and intellect were from the Progenia evaluations otherwise held to be appropriate/desirable for a Commissar, then it's quite plausible he would've wound up there regardless of his personal reservations/desires to pursue a less perilous path.